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Motorists drive their vehicles past a billboard depicting named Iranian ballistic missiles in service, with text in Arabic reading “the honest [person’s] promise” and in Persian “Israel is weaker than a spider’s web”, in Valiasr Square in central Tehran on April 15, 2024. Iran on April 14 urged Israel not to retaliate militarily to an unprecedented attack overnight, which Tehran presented as a justified response to a deadly strike on its consulate building in Damascus. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Atta Kenare | Afp | Getty Images

Crude oil futures fell for a second day Tuesday as the U.S. expects a limited response from Israel to an unprecedented air assault by Iran, reducing fears that the Middle East is on the verge of a broader regional war.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for May delivery lost 31 cents, or 0.36%, to $85.10 a barrel. The June Brent futures contract fell 26 cents, or 0.29%, to $89.84 a barrel.

Four U.S. officials told NBC News they expect an Israeli response to Iran’s attack to be limited in scope and most likely to involve strikes on Iranian forces and their proxies outside Iran.

“Tensions are high, and either party’s next moves are hard to predict, but all the significant signs point toward an easing of hostilities and restraint in the short term,” said Jorge Leon, senior vice president at Rystad Energy, a consulting firm.

Israel’s War Cabinet met for several hours Monday to weigh how Israel should response. An Israeli official told NBC News after the meeting that a response may be “imminent.”

Oil Prices, Energy News and Analysis

Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi said that “Iran will face consequences for its actions” in a video statement in which he thanked the U.S., Britain and France for assisting Israel in shooting down the more 300 missiles and drones launched at the country.

“We will choose our response accordingly,” Halevi said. “The IDF remains ready to counter any threats from Iran and its terror proxies as we continue our mission to defend the state of Israel.”

The leaders of Britain, France and Germany have called on Israel to show restraint in the wake of the Iranian attack. President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend that the U.S. commitment to Israel is ironclad but Washington will not participate in an offensive operation against Iran, a senior administration official told NBC News.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has consulted with Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Germany and the U.K. since the Iranian attack, State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters Monday.

“We continue to make clear to everyone that we talked to that we want to see de-escalation, that we don’t want to see this conflict further escalated. We don’t want to see a wider regional war,” Miller said.

The spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces said the Islamic Republic does not seek to expand the war, but warned Tehran would respond stronger than before if Israel counterattacks, according to a post on the Islamic Republic’s Arabic-language social media page.

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Get Blix’s Ultra e-bike with free accessories from $1,399, Anker PowerCore Reserve Power Station $110, and more

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Get Blix's Ultra e-bike with free accessories from ,399, Anker PowerCore Reserve Power Station 0, and more

Kicking off this week’s Green Deals is a new Spring Savings sale from Blix Bikes that is taking up to $700 off its e-bike models and also giving you up to $465 in free add-on accessories, with the Ultra Fat-Tire All-Terrain e-bike hitting a new $1,399 low. It is joined by the return of the Anker PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh Power Station to $110, as well as the Bosch Tronic 4000 6.5kW Electric Tankless Water Heater at $158. Plus all of the other green deals that have dropped today or are still hanging on from last week.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Blix Ultra Fat-Tire All-Terrain e-bike hits new $1,399 low with $328 in free accessories

Blix Bikes has an ongoing Amazing Spring Savings sale that is taking up to $700 off its e-bikes and also including up to $500 in free add-on accessories while supplies last. One of the notable standouts is Blix’s Ultra Fat-Tire All-Terrain e-bike for $1,399 shipped, with $328 in free accessories along with your purchase. Down from its $2,099 price tag, today’s deal gives you back a combined $1,028 in savings and lands at a new all-time low, beating out Black Friday prices. Along with the e-bike you’ll also be receiving your free accessories package that includes both a front and rear rack, a cushion for the rear rack, and passenger foot pegs for the rear as well. Blix also offers an additional way to save by using the promo code RIDETOGETHER for $200 off when purchasing two e-bikes together.

The Blix Ultra e-bike is equipped with a 750W geared rear hub motor and your choice between one or two 48V batteries that pushes this e-bike up to max speeds of 20 to 28 MPH and travels a range of 40-80 miles, depending on your choice of battery setup. It offers five levels of pedal-assist with a 12-magnet cadence sensor, and a full digital display that relays real-time information such as battery level, odometer, speedometer, travel distance, pedal assist settings, and also supports Bluetooth connectivity to the Blix app for more comprehensive performance data. It also comes stocked with an integrated LED headlight and a pair of 26-inch fat tires for a smoother ride. Plus, with this deal you’ll also be getting the rear rack that can hold cargo and passengers alike with the added foot pegs should you be bringing another person along with you.

Anker PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh Power Station returns to $110

The official Anker Amazon storefront is offering its PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh Power Station for $109.99 shippedafter clipping the on-page $40 off coupon. Recently fetching $150, with an original $170 MSRP, this device rode its MSRP throughout 2023, with only a few discounts ever occurring – the biggest of which dropped costs to a $119 low. In the new year we saw a drop down to its new list price as the company switched from LiFePO4 batteries to typical models, followed by a drop in price to its new $105 low at the start of last month. Today’s deal comes in as a repeat 27% markdown off the going rate that lands at the second-lowest price we have tracked.

This power station has a 60,000mAh (192Wh) capacity that is tailored for personal use throughout your days rather than powering your camping sites. It sports a compact design of 4.59 inches by 4.59 inches by 8.17 inches and only weighs 5 pounds, making it easy to store and carry. You can even connect it to a solar panel for solar charging on-the-go, taking just 4 hours with a 60W input. It features a built-in retractable light with two brightness modes alongside an S.O.S. button to provide emergency lighting for safety during power outages or other emergency situations. You’ll also get four output ports to cover your personal devices: two USB-As and two USB-Cs. And for protection, you can even get a custom co2CREA Hard Case for $33.

Bosch Tronic 4000 6.5kW Electric Tankless Water Heater now $158

Amazon is offering the Bosch Thermotechnology Tronic 4000 6.5kW Electric Tankless Water Heater for $158.40 shipped. Down from $250, it spent the first half of 2023 keeping between its MSRP and $200. It wasn’t until Labor Day sales that we saw it drop further to its former $160 low, which we didn’t see beaten until March when its fell to the new $154 low. Today’s deal comes in as a 37% markdown off the going rate that gives you a solid $92 in savings and returns costs to the second-lowest price we have tracked. This 6.5kW under-sink tankless water heater is designed to provide an endless supply of instantaneous hot water to one or more commercial/residential sinks. It can be installed in a 360 degree orientation, with its 13-inch by 8.5-inch by 4.5-inch size making it easy to fit in tight under-counter spaces, and its low 0.55 GPM activation flow rate works perfectly for commercial low-flow faucets. It boasts a 96% thermal efficiency rate with no standby heat loss, saving you time, water, and money.

Spring e-bike deals!

Hover-1 Instinct e-bike standing on kickstand with NYC skyline in background, within post for Blix Ultra Fat-Tire All-Terrain e-bike

Other new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.

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California now has 1 EV fast charging station for every 5 gas stations

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California now has 1 EV fast charging station for every 5 gas stations

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announced on Saturday that there is now one EV fast charging station for every five gas stations in California.

California has led the US in the number of EVs and EV charging stations every year since 2016, according to the US Energy Information Administration in December.

According to the governor’s office, 105,000 public or shared private EV chargers have been installed throughout California, on top of over 500,000 home EV chargers. Newsom flagged this stat in a tweet when he also highlighted that Tesla Superchargers are now open to non-Tesla EVs:

There are over 10,000 public DC fast chargers in California.

The number of gas stations vs. EV charging stations is not a like-for-like comparison because fueling up with gas is faster than DC fast charging… so far. But EVs can charge at home, meaning that DC fast chargers are used less.

In February, California approved a $1.9 billion plan to deploy 40,000 more public EV chargers statewide – and that’s in addition to the $1.8 billion it’s already invested in EV charging infrastructure.

More than 1.84 million EVs have been sold in California to date, and 34% of new ZEVs sold in the US are sold in California, according to the Veloz EV Market Report. The state ranks fourth in EV sales behind China, the US, and Germany.

Read more: The Las Vegas–LA electric high-speed rail line just broke ground


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Smartphone builder Xiaomi rolls 10,000 units of its flagship SU7 off assembly line in just 32 days

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Smartphone builder Xiaomi rolls 10,000 units of its flagship SU7 off assembly line in just 32 days

Just over a month after launching its first-ever BEV, smartphone developer, Xiaomi is touting some big production numbers for the SU7. Better yet, such output supports encouraging orders to date as the Chinese tech company is off to a hot start in its newly entered vehicle manufacturing segment.

As a Chinese electronics company specializing in smartphones, we never covered Xiaomi here at Electrek. Not until the company announced plans for a new EV arm called Xiaomi Automotive in March 2021.

Since then, we’ve followed the tech company closely to see if it could do something its rival Apple has yet to do… deliver its own branded BEV. We got our first glimpse of Xiaomi’s first model – the SU7 in November 2023, and a month later, it officially launched the BEV as a challenger to Porsche and, of course, Tesla.

At the time, we shared that Xiaomi believed it could entice would-be buyers from its existing customer base of 20 million smartphone users in China by offering a holistic system between the SU7 and other Xiaomi devices as a selling point.

It was correct.

The BEV received over 50,000 orders in the first 27 minutes of going on sale, creating a waitlist of up to seven months. This led Xiaomi to rethink its production strategy and try to crank out more SU7s than originally planned to keep up with demand. Although it is new to EVs, Xiaomi appears to be wielding its manufacturing expertise, and its assembly lines are humming in China, just one month in.

Xiaomi SU7
Source: Xiaomi Automobile/Weibo

Xiaomi SU7 orders top 75,000 as production ramps up

Per a Weibo post from Xiaomi Automobile today, orders for the SU7 had reached 75,723 units in the first 28 days since its launch in China. To keep up with this growing order book, Xiaomi is ramping up BEV production with hopes of delivering 100,000 SU7 EVs this year.

It is well on its way as the tech company turned automaker is already celebrating its 10,000th build, just 32 days after the SU7 launch. Of those builds, 5,781 SU7s have already been delivered in China, although the company already hinted at plans for expansion into new markets:

We believe that one day, there will be Xiaomi cars riding on every road around the world!

The SU7 originally launched in three separate variants: Standard, Pro, and Max – priced at RMB 215,900 ($29,850), RMB 245,900 ($34,000), and RMB 299,900 ($41,450), respectively. Last week, Xiaomi founder, chairman, and CEO Lei Jun said the company is targeting 10,000 SU7 deliveries in June, which is more evidence of its continued ramp-up.

This is an automaker to keep an eye on; it’s an impressive start so far.

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